Avi And Me
One rowdy Australian and his assortment of international friends, cooking up a celebration!
9
songs
2.2K
plays
I Am the Band I Am the Band
A true story........Guitar/harmonica/vocals - Avi....Drums - Celso Alberti.... Bass/vocal soup - Doug Amey
I Am the Band (Don's garage jam version) I Am the Band (Don's garage jam version)
Parts of the World Are Free Parts of the World Are Free
Bards & Icons Bards & Icons
A recording of the first run through at what drummer and pal Celso Alberti likes to call a musicians' 'hanng.' We wanted to share it with you, rough around the edges and all.
Southern Comfort Southern Comfort
Show all (9)
One rowdy Australian joined by an international assortment of musician mates met while world roaming...recorded in studios, living rooms, and garages across the US of A.Band/artist history
Avi the musician is plenty old enough to be someone's parent (perish the thought!) but Avi the singer-songwriter is a relatively new creation. After a life-time as a career musician performing other people's songs, Avi decided to take some time off to write his own.
He took exactly one year, because that was how long he was going to be stuck in a tiny little hut in a tiny little fishing village on a tiny little island in the south china seas. These things happen when you are married to a budding anthropologist. His wife got a Fulbright and Avi joined her while she conducted field-work.
One week he was living a raucous life in busy Sydney, performing 6 nights a week with frequent double bookings on weekends, the next he was ensconced in a fishing village with no electricity. No roads, no cars, and no Vic Bitter. Just him, 80 or so villagers, and the guitars he had dared bring to that humidity with no air con. No recording studios, no pubs, no functions to play except bonfires with the tourists who made their way to the island...increasingly joined by villagers who defied village opinion to come to the night-time parties (not so good for his wife, who was there to observe the local culture, not change it.) He also gave afternoon lessons - on the beach in the shade of a palm - to local youths who brought him guitars in various stages of disrepair. But most of the time on that island, Avi was composing melodies and experimenting with tunings and fingerings.
We'd like to say that he got right into the recording studio the moment he got back to civilization, but that would be a lie. Instead, he got right back out on the road - touring with Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, as their road manager. But he did start to make connections in the California Bay area, where he had settled. Among them were Airto's (and sometimes Steve Winwood's) drummer, Celso Alberti, and Mariah Carey's percussionist, Marqhuinos Brasil, two Brazilians who co-owned Moondog Recording. The 'doggers dug Avi's tunes. Recorded jam sessions started at Moondog, with many a beer cracked off-record.
Once Avi started sharing the tracks, it wasn't long before he had a whole assortment of different sets of professional musician pals with different sets of vibes jamming on his tunes in different gatherings of beer and music. Sound (and onsite recording) engineer that he is, Avi always recorded everything, giving it quick mixes. One day his wife put the recordings up at MP3.com when Avi wasn't looking, and what do you know, people liked them ("I told you so," said wife.) A number of the tracks shot up the online charts, a few getting to #1. One song in particular, , was picked up by radio stations and events across the country for Earth Day, and the "band" (the one that didn't really exist but that his wife had named to include everyone) was invited to play it live at an Earth Day show with Mickey Hart in San Francisco. A collection of the tracks was eventually made available as CD, which was available through MP3.com.
Then MP3.com shut down, Avi got hired by a cover band with a busy touring schedule to sing other people's songs again, and that was that for Avi And Me.
...until now. Now we've found Soundclick. Now, Avi has relocated to the Pacific Northwest, he has a whole new set of musician pals, and new songs, and new online tracks are coming soon because his wife still has a computer and internet access.Have you performed in front of an audience?Avi plays live shows for a living, as a guitarist and singer of other people's songs, solo and with a variety of acts and combos, in Portland, Seattle, and on the road. He does not, however, play live shows with . The only place you can hear them is here.But what you're hearing here are live recordings.
Your musical influences
Where do you start? Cat Stevens, Harry Chapin, John Martyn, Jim Croce, Pink Floyd, Louis Armstrong, the Beatles, the Stones, James Taylor, Marvin Gaye, CSNY, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Airto, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Jubim.....the list is from here to eternity.Contact
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Comments (6)
Great song well recorded sung and played!
"I am the band" nicely done and yep I can believe its a true story. Very good tunes you write sir. Drop by sometime for a listen. Like to hear what you think
Nice songs. I'e added you to my Mellow Alternative station. Best of luck.
Bards and Icons:It's like you accept this song right away, It's like somehow you know this song because you connect to it right away.Ok so this is how I feel abought it.But I'm a good judge of good music. You can feel the real passion of everyone in the band.Even the acoustic guitar sounds with passion. I know I like it and will listen to it again and again.Good job guys!
Hi Avi and Liss nice to hear you again! Been gone outta the scene for a while. I miss the music on mp3.com :( but will be hanging with Avi here at soundclick. All the best!
Rockin Ron
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